20,000 New Yorkers Will Soon Be "Bus People" Thanks to New Drunk-Driving Regulations

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If you have three drunk driving convictions, one of these is probably in your future.

Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday laid out new regulations for when dangerous drivers can regain their driving privileges after getting convicted of serious driving offenses, and it seems a lot of people will soon be taking the bus.

The new regulations, designed to keep drivers with a history of driving wasted off the road, will keep an estimated 20,000 New Yorkers from getting their driving privileges reinstated -- in many cases, the revocation will be permanent -- according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"We are saying 'enough is enough' to those who have chronically abused their driving privileges and threatened the safety of other drivers, passengers, and pedestrians," Cuomo says. "This comprehensive effort will make New York safer by keeping these drivers off our roadways."   

The new regulations -- issued by the DMV as "emergency regulations" -- are among the toughest in the country and include the following measures:



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Possibly Drunk Driver Crashes Into Shuttle Van Outside Radio City Music Hall

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Racing up Sixth Avenue at 5 in the morning will usually leave you in a heap of trouble, either with the passengers or with the police. Or, in this case, it could lead to disastrous consequences, like crashing into the side of a hotel shuttle van right outside of the famous Radio City Music Hall on 50th Street.

Apparently, a Mercedes-Benz was booking it down Sixth Avenue and steamrolled right through a red light, leading to complete full-on impact with the hotel shuttle bus. Soon after, parts of the avenue were shut down as police investigated the scene. The five passengers in the shuttle bus were taken to nearby hospitals to be treated for non-life-threatening conditions; however, reports say that two were left in critical condition.

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With DUI's, Long Islanders Have Already Had a Rough Memorial Day Weekend

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Seriously.
At the beginning of the month, Runnin' Scared mentioned that Nassau County police officers were getting a grant for the month of May to ramp up the amount of police officers on the lookout for drunk drivers. Looks like it came just in time for the holidays - what perfect timing.

Over the past two nights, at least seventy-one (count 'em, SEVENTY-ONE) people were arrested for drunk or drugged driving across Long Island, according to Newsday

Just look these statistics:

"Twenty-five people were arrested on DWI charges in Nassau County last night between 7 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday."

And here's a few more, provided by Gothamist

"In Nassau County, 39 people were arrested on DWI charges between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. the next day on Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday. Suffolk County saw 21 arrested for "DWI and driving-while-ability-impaired charges between 4 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday" (the numbers for Saturday-Sunday aren't available yet)."

We know Long Islanders love drugs and booze but come on.
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Westchester Man Passes Out On Sidewalk And Gets Robbed...Repeatedly *VIDEO*

Categories: Drinking
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Regardless of how drunk you are, this is not a good place for a nap.

We've all been there (at least that's what we tell ourselves) -- you're drunk, you're heading home, and an inviting piece of sidewalk lures you in a for a quick roadside nap. In most cases, you wake up, say "how the hell did I get here," and spend the rest of the day ashamed and trying to forget the whole thing ever happened.

That wasn't the case for a Westchester County man, though, who ended a night of drinking by crashing on the sidewalk in front of a home in Port Chester. And of the dozens of people who passed him -- many of whom simply stepped over his unconscious body -- nobody bothered to call an ambulance, or attempt to help him. They did, however, rob him -- multiple groups of people walking past the man were caught on surveillance video bending down to steal his stuff. One woman went so far as to steal his belt. Another thief even takes off one of the man's shoes, presumably looking cash in his socks.

WABC's got video of the sidewalk free-for-all, which you can see below.


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Assemblyman Micah Kellner: Let's Bet at NYC Bars Again

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The more, the merrier. Or, in this case, the more vices, the better. At least that's what New York Assemblyman Micah Kellner thinks and just in time for the Kentucky Derby and Cinco De Mayo.

In an interview today on the radio station WCBS 880, he introduced his plan to bring back the betting kiosks of old to local drinking holes in the Big Apple. 

These terminals allowed hoppers and party-goers to legally put money down on horse races, as well as other sporting events, and were usually funded by the now-defunct Off-Track Betting Corp. (better known to us as the dark green letters, "OTB"). It was a supplement of gambling to drinking and, according to Kellner, raised $165 million a year. Now we're listening.

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Teachers, Cop Nabbed In Separate DWI Cases

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This weekend news broke of two separate incidents in which people who should be counseling against drunk driving were caught, well, driving drunk. The first, and arguably more outlandish case, happened on Friday night on East Fordham road and involved public school teachers Diana Mancusco, 29, and Karen Aguilar, 26. After finding that both women were drunk, cops searched the car and found a small amount of cocaine and a dagger. Mancusco and Aguilar were charged with drunk driving and drug and weapon possession. They both work at the Entrada Academy in the Bronx.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer Pushes For Crackdown On Drugged Driving

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In New York City, 357 drivers were arrested in 2011 for being under the influence of drugs -- up from 81 ten years prior. That's more than a 300 percent increase.

That's why Sen. Chuck Schumer is making a funding push to crackdown on "drugged driving" through new on-site technologies that would identify drivers under the influence and through additional training for officers.

He made the call for stronger enforcement at a press conference yesterday with Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, where he argued that despite a growth in drugged driving arrests over the last decade, the number of arrests pale in comparison to drunk driving -- due to the challenges of identifying drivers on drugs on the road.

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Nevermind, People, Mayor Bloomberg Doesn't Want to Take Away Your Booze

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After a massive fervor must have ensued (we're guessing that liquor businesses, like liquor patrons, can be quite vocal) following the New York Post's story on the Health Department's possible plan to make New Yorkers healthier by limiting their access to alcohol through fewer stores (and ads), the mayor has spoken, and, rest assured, friends -- he is not, at this moment, going to take away your right to party. The Post reports that their initial piece "drew howls of outrage from responsible drinkers and operators of liquor venues across the city" (which, one assumes, was not an unintended result of the article). Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser has come forth to quell those howls, saying that the mayor does not want to limit liquor businesses' depth and breadth and bread and butter, and, actually, this was just brainstorming. Calm down everyone, and take a nice, long sip of your beverage! Isn't that nice?

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Mike Bloomberg Is Out to 'Fix' Our Drinking Problem

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You know how our dear Mayor Bloomberg went after our soda-chugging habit, and how, on the occasion, we enjoy delicious trans-fat-full French fries, and how much salt is in our food? He also made us stop smoking in public places, one after the next, and installed giant calorie counts on the menus of various restaurants so that instead of getting the potato skins we order a sad little piece of boiled chicken and poke it around with our fork before going home to bathe in our own tears. Step by step, he has destroyed much that is bad for us in this world, creating a subset of humans so healthy as to be insufferable -- and another subset bent on getting the unhealthy stuff, whatever the cost. He is at it again, and this time, the ante is upped. He wants us to stop drinking so much. Mayor Bloomberg, you are not the boss of us! And we will sneak out if you ground us, we will.

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The Couple That Drinks Together Drinks Together, Study Finds

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NOT PICTURED: His girlfriend, drinking vodka out of a salad spinner.
Ever notice that when you crack open your third bottle of wine, your boyfriend or girlfriend is uncorking his or her third bottle as well? This may be evidence of a broader trend among young couples, a new study finds. USA Today reports that researchers in Nova Scotia discovered they "were able to predict one partner's binge drinking based on the other partner's binge drinking." Don't worry, single binge drinkers, there's bound to be someone out there for you, and they're probably throwing a shoe at the TV of an airport bar as you read this.

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